Death or imprisonment? El Salvador's strict antiabortion law
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's . The views expressed are the author's own.
El Salvador has one of the in the world. El Salvador outlaws abortion for any reason. There are no exceptions for rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. Moreover, El Salvador arrests and imprisons women who have abortions, sometime charging them with murder and sending them to prison for thirty years.
A 2012 details the status of maternal and reproductive health in El Salvador.
El Salvador鈥檚 stringent anti-abortion legislation has imprisoned 628 women聽since a law was enacted in 1998. Twenty-four of these women were indicted for聽鈥渁ggravated murder,鈥� after an abortion,聽miscarriage, or stillbirth. Morena Herrera,聽president of CFDA maintains the majority of聽women who have been charged are extremely vulnerable for being poor, young and聽with low levels of education.
The human consequences of that law are in abundantly clear today in a single case. The Huffington Post has on a case highlighted by Amnesty International:
A critically ill young woman in El Salvador may have to decide between jail and a life-saving abortion, according to a new report from Amnesty International.聽 The 22-year-old woman, identified only as Beatriz, is four-and-a-half months pregnant but , per the report. 聽Beatriz has been diagnosed with several illnesses, including lupus and kidney disease, Amnesty wrote, and her baby is missing a large part of its brain and skull and would likely die within hours or days of birth...
Salon reports that Beatriz's hospital petitioned El Salvador's Supreme Court a month ago
鈥淏eatriz鈥檚 situation is desperate and must not wait any longer. Her very chances of survival depend on a decision from the authorities,鈥� Esther Major, Amnesty International鈥檚 researcher on Central America, said in a statement. 鈥淭he delay is nothing short of cruel and inhuman."
Amnesty International has organized an to get messages of support for Beatriz to Salvadoran authorities.
鈥�聽Tim Muth聽covers the news and politics of El Salvador on his .
